Ok, seems like a safe place to ask a dumb question. How does the California T know if you are shifting or in Automatic. I see three buttons: Reverse, Automatic and PS. If I hit automatic, how does the Ferrari know that the driver will shift with the paddles? Or if I hit automatic does the California T do all the shifting? I would expect that if I was using the paddles, the California T would never shift for me. I was watch a video and the driver talked about the California T downshifted. I would think that if you are using paddles, you determine when to downshift.
Pressing the Auto button tells the car you want it to handle all the shifting. It's an on/off switch so hitting it again puts it into manual mode where it won't shift until you pull a paddle. The default mode on startup is Auto. Even in Auto, you can override the automatic function by pulling a paddle (so long as your speed is appropriate for the selected gear; it won't let you downshift to first if you're going 100mph, for example), and in manual mode it will still downshift to first for you when you bring the car to a stop. PS is for PowerStart mode, also known as launch control. It's only for a maximum acceleration start, as in a drag race.
The car starts in Auto mode. If you want to shift manually just hit the auto button and it will switch to manual mode. If you have driven a manual before use the paddles as you would the gear shift. But do not lift off the accelerator , simply keep your foot in it. Most of the time I drive in manual mode as I find it to be much more engaging and fun
